A/N: Because it's so much more fun to write about school than for it.

Shout-out to the lovely anon who called me a bully suggested "College TA x College student fic!"

“This is ridiculous.” Taeyeon isn’t one to misuse the word ‘literally,’ but Tiffany is almost literally fuming. Taeyeon can practically see steam pouring out her ears. “I spent a whole week working on this essay and my prof totally loved it when she saw my outline and I only get an 83 on it.”

“83 isn’t a bad mark,” Taeyeon feels compelled to point out, and promptly wishes she never said anything when Tiffany turns a glare at her.

“83 isn’t acceptable! If I’m going to get into Berkeley for law school, I need to maintain my GPA.”

“Well, you do know the prof doesn’t mark the paper, right?” Sunny says. “You should talk to your TA about it.”

“I know! That’s the problem,” Tiffany hisses. “My TA is…”

Taeyeon blinks. “Umm, what did they do?”

“She hates me,” Tiffany groans. “When she comes to lectures she just stares at me with these vaporizing eyes. It’s like she’s trying to bore holes into my skull.”

“Maybe she’s just one of those people who stare into space a lot,” Sunny says. “Very intensely.”

“And I did try going to her to talk about the paper. But when I went to her office hours, she wasn’t even there!” Tiffany throws her hands in the air. Sometimes Taeyeon thinks that she could have been a theatre major. “Actually, I’m pretty sure she was there and she just ignored me.”

“Why do you say that?” Sunny asks, exchanging an oh Tiffany look with Taeyeon.

“I heard movement in the office,” Tiffany says darkly. “Also, the air conditioning was going on full blast and you’re not allowed to adjust the thermostat unless you’re actually in the room.”

At this point, it’s taking all of Taeyeon’s restraint to not laugh and she doesn’t think that would make Tiffany feel better so she pinches her lips together in attempt to stay silent.

“Did you try talking to your prof?” Sunny asks.

“She told me to talk to my TA first. It’s not like I could tell her ‘but she hates me, you have to give me some justice.’”

Taeyeon coughs at the word “justice.” Tiffany sounds like they’re in living in a superhero universe or something.

“And I tried catching her after class but there were all these students in front of me in line to talk to her – or more like trying to ask her out—”

Taeyeon perks up. “Is she hot?”

Tiffany’s glare makes her close again. After a few moments, Tiffany mutters, “She would look better if she didn’t have a perpetual face.”

Taeyeon interprets that as yes, she’s hot.

“Isn’t Yuri a lit TA too?” Sunny says. “Maybe she knows your TA and can talk to her.”

Tiffany beams. “That’s a great idea! I’ll ask Yuri to help me stage an intervention.”

“Maybe phrase that a little differently,” Taeyeon suggests. “‘Intervention’ sounds so serious.”

“This is serious, Taeyeon. This is about my future!”

Taeyeon wishes Yuri good luck.

Yuri sets her chai soy latte on the table and takes a seat. “So, I heard you have a reputation for being a hardass.”

Jessica raises an eyebrow and idly blows on her caramel macchiato. “From who, exactly?”

“From whom, Sica. Aren’t you the language major here?”

Jessica just keeps looking at her.

“I’m friends with a second year from your class.”

“Which second year,” Jessica says slowly.

“She talks very loudly, has a killer smile and owns a lot of pink. Sound familiar?”

Yuri expects Jessica to groan, or make a sarcastic comment, but instead a hint of pink crawls along Jessica’s cheekbones. No. Way.

“You like her,” Yuri whispers in hushed realization.

“No, I don’t!” Jessica protests immediately, but her cheeks only darken.

“Aren’t you past the grade school stage of pulling on your crush’s pigtails, Sica? Giving her a low mark because you like her – that’s not very nice.”

“I don’t like her,” Jessica says through gritted teeth, “and 83 isn’t a low mark. It’s an A and it’s what her paper deserved. The highest mark I gave for that assignment is an 86, so she doesn’t have anything to complain about.”

“You dashed her dreams of going to law school, did you know that?”

“She wants to go to law school?” The corners of Jessica’s mouth turn up slightly. “I can see her as a lawyer.”

“You are so whipped,” Yuri snickers.

“Shut up,” Jessica groans. “She hates me, doesn’t she? I mean, if she complained to you about me—”

“She thinks you hate her because apparently you stare at her like you want to kill her. Obviously she doesn’t know that your ‘I want to kill you’ face is very similar to your ‘I want to fu—”

“Shut up,” Jessica says again, with so much venom that Yuri wisely drops it.

“She also said that she went to find you at your office hours but you weren’t there. Or you were there and ignored her.”

By the blank look on Jessica’s face, Yuri knows she has no idea what Yuri’s talking about. “When was this?”

“Last Thursday during your usual office hours.”

“Oh.” Jessica looks guilty. “I was in my office, but I was sleeping.”

“What?”

“I was really tired. I didn’t sleep at all on Wednesday night because I was working on a paper and I didn’t mean to nap during my office hours but…my couch is so comfortable.”

“You were asleep,” Yuri says slowly, and then she dissolves into laughter. “Only you would sleep during your office hours.”

“Ugh, I feel really bad. I stayed behind longer in class to answer questions and extended my office hours this week in case any students couldn’t find me last week.”

“I wonder why Tiffany didn’t try to talk to you again.”

“I think she was trying to at the end of class but there were all these other students and she left before I could get to her.”

“Other students asking you questions about class or about your relationship status?”

“Shut up. You get students asking you out too.”

“Yeah and one of them succeeded.”

“That’s different. Yoona isn’t even your student; she just went to a tutorial you covered when I was sick.”

“Tiffany won’t be your student in a few months,” Yuri points out. “Besides, I know you. You’re super professional about these things. You wouldn’t boost her mark if you were dating her. I mean, look at you now. She’s complaining about a mark she got from you.”

“She could have talked to me in person,” Jessica says quietly. “I would have explained my reasoning and given her tips for her next paper.”

“She did try to talk to you. You were a) asleep or b) fending off suitors.”

“Does she really think this mark is going to sink her grade? It’s a good grade for a good paper.”

“Tiffany has never been satisfied with good,” Yuri replies. “She’s never settled for anything less than great.” She softens at the look on Jessica’s face. “Look, why don’t you just talk to her? She’s under the impression that you ha—don’t like her. It’s clearly a big misunderstanding. Just talk to her and explain.”

Jessica exhales. “Yeah, just talk to her. Sounds easy.”

“Tiffany’s nice. Overly loud and headstrong, but very nice.”

“I know she’s nice,” Jessica says, in so soft a voice that Yuri finds herself incapable of teasing her. “She’s always the one other students ask when they don’t understand something. I know she’s busy but she always takes the time to help them.”

“Jessica,” Yuri says. “Just…talk to her. She wants to talk to you.”

“She wants to yell at me, probably,” Jessica says wryly.

“Well, yelling to her is what talking is to most people, so…” Jessica smiles a little, and Yuri smiles back encouragingly. “Look, she wants to stage an ‘intervention’ with you – her words, not mine – and you can just tell her that you don’t want to screw her over, you want to screw her, period.”

“Kwon Yuri—”

“Feel free to quote me. You don’t even have to give me credit.”

“You are the worst friend ever.”

“The word you’re looking for is ‘best.’ Geez, first the ‘whom’ mistake, then this. How did you become a TA again?”

Jessica raises her macchiato threateningly, and even though it’s probably cool by now, Yuri wisely backs off. She’s learned from experience that it’s not a smart idea to push Jessica too far.

“You said I’m ‘super professional,’ right?” Jessica says. “I guess I’ll really exercise my professionalism for this meeting.”

“If you’re lucky, after it, that won’t be the only thing you’ll be exercising.”

Jessica gives her a glare that probably shaves a year off her life, and Yuri ends up buying her a cupcake before she ends up with coffee dumped on her. Yuri likes a caramel macchiato as much as the next person, but she likes to drink it, not wear it.

“So,” Jessica says. “I heard you wanted to talk to me.”

“Yeah.” Tiffany had a speech all planned out about why her paper deserves higher than an 83, but in the face of Jessica’s quietly expectant gaze, all the words get clogged in . When her expression isn’t annoyed, bored or apathetic, Jessica really is quite pretty. Very pretty, even. Tiffany swallows. “Yeah, I did.”

When Tiffany doesn’t continue after almost a minute, Jessica raises an eyebrow and asks, “About your paper, right?”

“Yes, about my paper.” Tiffany finds her voice. “I don’t really understand your marking scheme.”

“I grade papers holistically, as I said during the first lecture. I don’t have a rubric with sections about structure and grammar, if that’s what you’re looking for.” Jessica pins Tiffany in place with her eyes. It isn’t one of her laser glares, exactly, but it’s still very…intense. “It’s a very good paper, Tiffany.”

There’s something about the way that Jessica says her name that makes Tiffany swallow again. She pronounces the f’s properly, which is a nice change, but that’s not why.

“Thank you?” It comes out like a question.

“I’m not in the habit of giving 90s for papers. I can count the number of 90s I’ve given out on one hand. If you’re expecting one—”

“I put a lot of work into this paper,” Tiffany blurts out. “I mean, I’m not saying other people didn’t into theirs. I just… I really thought it was worth more than an 83.”

“83 is a good mark. Very good, in my books.”

“Very good isn’t good enough,” Tiffany says, ahead of her brain yet again. “I mean… Sorry, I know I’m coming off as an overachieving keener, but—”

“Are you not?” Jessica asks, sounding amused.

“What?”

“Are you not an overachieving keener?” Jessica clucks her tongue. “I don’t like that choice of words, actually. Are you not a hardworking student who strives for excellence? There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I…I guess I am.” Tiffany’s face feels hot. Did Jessica just compliment her? “I mean, I want to do well.”

“You are doing well. You’re one of the top students in the class.”

“Thank you,” Tiffany finds herself saying again.

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m just stating a fact.”

“So there’s nothing I can do, is there,” Tiffany says, resigned.

“About this paper?”

“I didn’t come here to complain about the mark,” Tiffany says, even though that had been her exact intention. “I just wanted to know your feedback and suggestions to improve.”

“Did you read my comments?”

“I did! I read them over several times, but I had some trouble, um—”

“—reading my handwriting?” Jessica supplies wryly. Tiffany nods, her head half-bowed, her cheeks slightly pink. Oh God, why is she blushing? “Sorry about that. I’m very…in the moment when I read papers and my writing suffers from that.”

“It’s okay. My friends all say I write like a fourteen-year-old boy, so.”

Jessica smiles and Tiffany tells herself not to stare. “I’ve seen fourteen-year-old boys’ writing and yours is much nicer than that.”

“Thank you.” She’s starting to sound like a recording. A very polite recording, but still. Tiffany usually never has problems with talking, but now her tongue feels like it’s tied in a knot and her insides feel similar.

“Also, I’m pretty sure that fourteen-year-old boys don’t usually dot their i’s with a heart.”

Tiffany is definitely blushing now. “My teachers found it cute,” she says, which she knows doesn’t help her case at all.

“I find it cute too,” Jessica says, her voice abruptly quieter.

Tiffany looks up and—she isn’t the only one who’s blushing. Wait, what’s happening here?

Jessica clears very loudly, like she has phlegm stuck in it. Maybe she’s sick from how high the air conditioning was set in her office. Maybe she has a fever; that would explain her flushed cheeks.

“Jessica ssi, maybe you shouldn’t turn your air conditioning so high in your office.”

Jessica blinks at her. “What?”

“Well, when I went to your office hours last Thursday, I could hear the AC going on full-blast. I don’t think it’s healthy to have your office that cold.”

“You don’t have to add the ‘ssi.’ Just Jessica is fine.”

“Jessica,” Tiffany tries, shy, and Jessica smiles, like just hearing Tiffany say her name is worth a smile. “You…should take care of your health.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not that fragile. I’m older than you but I’m not a grandma.”

“Should I call you unnie then?” Tiffany asks teasingly.

Jessica makes a face. “Not unless you want a lower mark on your next paper.”

With the mention of grades, suddenly the air in the room is heavier.

“You wouldn’t do that,” Tiffany says, quiet but firm.

“Do what?”

“Give me a lower mark because you don’t like me. Just like how you wouldn’t give me a higher mark because you like me, right?”

Jessica looks at her like she doesn’t understand the language she’s speaking, even though Tiffany has read her papers before and marvelled at what she could do with words.

“I would never expect that from you,” Tiffany continues with bravery she doesn’t feel. “If you were my… My…”

“Your what?” Jessica asks quietly.

“My girlfriend.” Tiffany barely gets the words out, at about one tenth of her usual volume and even less of her usual confidence.

“I’m your teaching assistant, Tiffany,” Jessica says after a long moment of silence. “I can’t date one of my students.”

It doesn’t sound much like a rejection.

“I won’t be your student in a few months,” Tiffany says. “I can wait until then.”

“The semester is pretty long,” Jessica says, but her voice is pulling up at the end with hope.

“I can wait. I’m a patient person.” At the quirk of Jessica’s mouth, Tiffany amends, “Okay, I’m not the most patient person but I don’t give up easily.”

“You don’t, do you?” Jessica murmurs. “I guess I should be grateful for that.”

“You’re welcome,” Tiffany says, which is a refreshing change. Jessica smiles, just with half , and Tiffany vows to get another full smile from her. “So you’ll go out with me once the semester ends?”

“Hmm, it depends on how well you do.”

“You said I was a hardworking student who strives for excellence, remember?”

“You also write like a fourteen-year-old girl. I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

Tiffany pouts. “You said my writing is cute.”

Jessica looks like she wishes she could take that back. “You dot your i’s with a heart but you don’t with your j’s,” she says casually. Or well, she tries to sound casual. Tiffany will give her an 83 for effort.

“I can start now.” Tiffany smiles, and Jessica stares. Sunny was right – Jessica does stare very intensely, but it’s an intensity that Tiffany can get used to. “But I’m going to do that for all my courses. Don’t think it’s preferential treatment or anything.”

“Of course not,” Jessica says, and there’s the smile that Tiffany was looking for. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Tiffany gets an 87 on her next paper, and a 89.5 on her final one. She stages an intervention to complain about not getting a 90, and Jessica totally cheats by using to silence her.

Meanwhile, Yuri and Yoona smugly collect money from Taeyeon and Sunny.

“I told you they were going to get together by the end of the semester,” Yuri says, thumbing the stack of bills in her hand. “Don’t ever doubt me.” Yoona elbows her with a pointed look. “Don’t ever doubt Yoona,” she corrects, handing the money to her.

“I’m thinking about becoming a TA,” Taeyeon says. “It seems much more effective than Tinder.”

Sunny just sighs and continues working on her dissertation, wondering if she’s returned to junior high without knowing.